16 year olds simply don't have enough political memory to enable an informed vote. A 16 year old voter in 2029 will have only been 11 years old in 2024, during the Southport stabbing, the riots and the following scandal. By allowing this person to vote, you create a new paradigm where an entire voting cohort was too young to have properly taken in any news stories or scandals that may have occurred in the first half of the current government's time in power. I didn't even begin thinking about "current events" on a deep level until I was 14-15, and that's probably earlier than average. Such a low voting age will only serve to retard government accountability.
Re the discussion over who’ll benefit most I’m much more skeptical than most that Reform/Corbyn are the winners here and that this is a Starmer own goal.
Any polling or indeed amateur projection is only taking stock of the current environment. I haven’t seen anyone take into account how the curriculum and more generally the school environment might respond to voting becoming an actual school-age activity.
There are endless means available where teachers are instructed to encourage ‘voting sensibly’ and all the rest. It should go without saying, but teachers are on average boring Labour types and not Reform or Corbyn supporters. I don’t think they’ll hesitate to ever so subtly nudge their pupils towards the sensible adults. Frankly, I think if Starmer sees this through to its logical conclusion, this could be one of his more shrewd moves.
Your objection to automatic voter registration is not that it is unfair or insecure, but that it might result in electoral outcomes you don’t like. So how can you accuse Labour of cynically trying to rig the system? What is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. I can’t see any principled argument against automatic voter registration as long the registration is accurate.
True, automatic registration of everybody eligible will lead to hundreds of thousands of Indian students realising to their astonishment that they’ve got the right to vote in Britain. This might actually increase public awareness of this anachronism and lead to pressure for its abolition.
The most urgent reform that needs to be made to Britain’s electoral system is to restore the secret ballot by abolishing postal voting on demand.
Finally, I thought Pimlico was a patriotic outlet! “Licence” is spelt with a C in this country (or at least it was until recently)! How long before you start using “likely“ as an adverb?
16 year olds simply don't have enough political memory to enable an informed vote. A 16 year old voter in 2029 will have only been 11 years old in 2024, during the Southport stabbing, the riots and the following scandal. By allowing this person to vote, you create a new paradigm where an entire voting cohort was too young to have properly taken in any news stories or scandals that may have occurred in the first half of the current government's time in power. I didn't even begin thinking about "current events" on a deep level until I was 14-15, and that's probably earlier than average. Such a low voting age will only serve to retard government accountability.
Re the discussion over who’ll benefit most I’m much more skeptical than most that Reform/Corbyn are the winners here and that this is a Starmer own goal.
Any polling or indeed amateur projection is only taking stock of the current environment. I haven’t seen anyone take into account how the curriculum and more generally the school environment might respond to voting becoming an actual school-age activity.
There are endless means available where teachers are instructed to encourage ‘voting sensibly’ and all the rest. It should go without saying, but teachers are on average boring Labour types and not Reform or Corbyn supporters. I don’t think they’ll hesitate to ever so subtly nudge their pupils towards the sensible adults. Frankly, I think if Starmer sees this through to its logical conclusion, this could be one of his more shrewd moves.
Good summary of the case against lowering the voting age.
However, you can no longer get married in England and Wales at 16:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/legal-age-of-marriage-in-england-and-wales-rises-to-18
Your objection to automatic voter registration is not that it is unfair or insecure, but that it might result in electoral outcomes you don’t like. So how can you accuse Labour of cynically trying to rig the system? What is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. I can’t see any principled argument against automatic voter registration as long the registration is accurate.
True, automatic registration of everybody eligible will lead to hundreds of thousands of Indian students realising to their astonishment that they’ve got the right to vote in Britain. This might actually increase public awareness of this anachronism and lead to pressure for its abolition.
The most urgent reform that needs to be made to Britain’s electoral system is to restore the secret ballot by abolishing postal voting on demand.
Finally, I thought Pimlico was a patriotic outlet! “Licence” is spelt with a C in this country (or at least it was until recently)! How long before you start using “likely“ as an adverb?
It's less the 16-yr old that's the worry, and more the "community leader" who'll be able to produce a vote in the 16-yr old's name.